MNN - Mother Nature Network

Did anyone notice that almost immediately after I posted my first gardening update last week, the topic of digging a vegetable garden seemed to be everywhere in the news? Of course, it wasn’t my garden. It was the White House garden that people were talking about, but that’s okay. Suddenly, my garden is even more hip. Thank you, Michelle Obama.

 

There’s not much going on in my back yard, yet. Most of the action is inside the house. My 6-year-old and I started planting our seeds in the yogurt cups we’ve been saving all winter. We drilled three drainage holes in the bottom of each cup. Have you ever let a 6-year-old use an electric drill? I’m a firm believer that if you think a kid is ready for an activity, regardless of age, you let him give it a try (supervised, of course). My son was thrilled that we trusted him enough to use the drill, and he was very careful while doing it. Still, it was a little nerve wracking to be holding the cups while a six-year-old was drilling through them.

 

Once we drilled all the cups, we began to fill them with organic potting soil and then put the seeds in. We’ve got a few varieties of tomatoes done so far, and I hope we’ll get the rest done over the weekend. By then our home will look like this.

 

We’ve still got the bunny family living in the garden bed. After leaving them alone for an entire week, I couldn’t resist, and I moved the twigs covering them with a long stick and snapped a picture. I found one annoyed looking mommy rabbit, and I quickly covered the nest and left them in peace. After I covered them, one of the bunnies jumped out and ran through my backyard. Later, when I went to look at the nest, I saw a bunny sized hole in the twigs, and I assume that the brave little bunny burrowed his way back through. At least I hope he did.

 

You know what felt good? Knowing that the family of bunnies in our garden isn’t living in a garden bed that has been treated with chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Since we garden organically, I know that they’re a little better off than if I had used chemicals in that spot. Now, check back with me a few months when that family is munching on my green bean plants, and I may not be so protective of them!

 

I assume our composter is doing its job. We keep putting kitchen scraps in. I really like how much we’re not using our garbage disposal these days. I’ve enjoyed looking out the window while gangs of squirrels have had little pow-wows on top of the composter trying to figure out how to get in.